My Cherry Blossom, My Little Doll
by envy.and.pride
Summary: SasoSaku. A heated battle. A midnight visitor. An unexpected love. Alternate plotline. No lemons. It's back up. NEW First chapter of the sequel is up as well!
1. Chapter 1

**My Cherry Blossom, My Little Doll**

**This is my old story, I've had to resubmit it. I had to delete it for... personal reasons, but its back up. Sadly, I've lost all of your wonderful reviews. ;;**

**This is just an idea I had this morning, which I had to write down when I felt like writing this afternoon. I'm sorry if it makes no sense, I hope you enjoy reading it. If it gets some sort of response, then I'll write a second chapter.**

_Sakura remembered the first and the last time she had met _Akasuna no Sasori.

_Sasori of the Red Sand… _

_It was mostly vague, like a waking dream. _

_It had all been a blur, a rush of adrenalin and anger, and fear. _

_She remembered her sense of awe as he brought out a hundred puppets, her sense of fear as she fought with them, the sense of accomplishment as they defeated them all, and sealed off the puppet master's chakra. _

_And then she didn't remember anything but acting on pure instinct to protect the old woman, intercepting the attack for her. _

_She remembered intense pain, the worst she'd ever felt in her life as the poisoned sword was thrust through her stomach._

_She remembered her desperation as Chiyo jabbed the antidote into her leg, and her growing anger at Sasori._

_She remembered triumph as Chiyo used her puppets to stab him through the heart._

_Then everything went black._

_But after she woke, her memories were clear as day._

_Sakura clutched at her stomach, trying her hardest to ignore the twinges from the just healed wound. She smirked as she watched Sasori, stabbed through the only living part of him, on the verge of death. He made some smug comment, so blasé about the thought of his own grandmother dieing. The rage built up in Sakura's head, and the chakra in her fists, and she punched him._

"_Give it up." Even about to die he was so calm and condescending. "This body feels no pain. If all you do is hit me, your fist is all that will hurt. Women like to do useless things, don't they? Even connected by blood ties as we are, I won't feel a thing if Grandma here dies." He continued. _

"_But you will."_

_Sakura saw his fingers give the slightest twitch, and spun around. _

"_Chiyo!" _

_It was too late. One of Sasori's decapitated puppets had her in its lifeless grip, a blade at her throat._

"_I know what you're like… Sakura. I know you couldn't watch my dear Grandmother die knowing you could have done something to stop it." A smirk spread across his face. Sakura knew he was right, and so did he._

"_Sakura." Chiyo said to her. "Whatever he wants, don't do it. It's my time to die anyway."_

"_G-gomen nasai, Chiyo-sama. He's right. I can't let him kill you." She turned back to face him. "What do you want?" She glared at him, wishing her glare could burn through his already shrivelled heart._

"_Heal me. I know you can. But remember, I can kill my dearest grandma quicker than you could ever kill me, so don't try anything." That smirk was still on his face, smug and self-satisfied._

_Without saying a word, she stepped towards him and did what she knew she had to do. She removed the two blades that had pierced his heart, wishing she could thrust them back in again. She worked quickly; wary about what would happen when she was done. She felt his eyes constantly on her, unnerving her. It felt so wrong, using her chakra to save the person she should have killed. _

_She finished and backed away quickly, and Sasori released Chiyo from the puppets hold. She was glad he had been faithful to his word. Sakura felt so disappointed though, she knew the battled was over. None of the three had strength left to fight, all wounded, all low on chakra. He disappeared before Sakura could do anything anyway, parting with a sentence that lingered forever in Sakura's mind._

"_Arigatou, __Kohana." _Thank you, little flower

_Kohana? The affectionate nickname stuck in her head. What did he mean by calling her that? She dismissed it. It was nothing._

Now, almost a year later, she still relieved the events of that fateful day when she was by herself, wondering if she had done the right thing. She believed she did- if Chiyo had died, who would have saved Gaara? But perhaps she was just releasing an even greater evil on the world. Who knew, no one might ever get the opportunity to kill him ever again.

Sakura's mind was in turmoil this particular night as it was, yet again, brought to the front of her mind. It was as if his voice was in her head, one whispered word circling in her mind.

_Kohana._

She knew what she had to do, to make up for her mistake.

She had to kill him.

It was revenge.

That word that formed in her mouth was sweet to taste, and she understood something of what Sasuke must feel. Utter hatred and the need, the desire for revenge. Next time she saw him, she would kill him before he had a chance to even get that smug, calm smirk on his face.

Eventually, despite her misgivings, her eyes eventually shut and she drifted off to sleep. She woke up once during the night, shivering from a cold breeze that blew in from the open window. She crossed the room to shut it. She was sure she had closed it before she went to sleep.

That morning as Sakura got up and got dressed, she wished she had a mission that day. But all she had to do were some small tasks for Tsunade. She used most of the day to look through the records in the Konoha archives. She concentrated on the records concerning Akatsuki, though she had read them through many times before.

Each time she hoped for something more, some small detail that she had missed before, something that might give them away. The Akatsuki were secretive and stealthy, always covering their tracks. It was hopeless; she got no closer to anything in a whole frustrating day.

She left early, seeing no need to keep looking at the same thing over and over again. Sakura strolled slowly down the street, looking out for somewhere to eat. Maybe she could meet up with someone she knew for dinner. She hadn't seen many of her friends lately; it would be nice to catch up with someone.

She soon found a small sushi bar and sat down to eat, and still saw no one that she knew. It was starting to unsettle her, combined with the overall sense that someone was watching her. Maybe it was just paranoia, but she couldn't shake that ominous feeling.

It was quickly getting dark, so she headed home swiftly, every sound making her jump in the unnatural silence. But she got home fine.

_See? You're just paranoid._ _Nothing is going to happen. _She told herself, taking a deep breath to calm her madly racing heart.

Sakura stayed up for a while; to finish some paperwork Tsunade had left her. She hardly registered the words and statistics she was writing down on the page.

The window shutters banged against the frame with a sudden gust of wind. Sakura jumped halfway out of her chair, and her heart seemed determined to beat its way out of her chest.

"God…" She breathed, moving over to shut the window again. "It must be broken or something… Keeps coming open…" She muttered to herself, leaning out to check the hinges and the frame.

She was just about to close them again when a sudden flash of crimson caught her attention in the darkness. It was fleeting, and when she looked for it again, she couldn't see anything. With a shrug that feebly attempted to drive away her misgivings, she closed the window and moved back to her desk, putting the papers away for the night.

She heard something behind her, but by the time she registered that something was wrong, she was unable to move. It was like she was in one of her nightmares. She knew instantly who it was, from the electric blue chakra strings that rendered her immobile.

"Sasori." She breathed. "What do you want?" She asked, the same as she had when he held Chiyo at knife-point. She was still facing her desk, away from the window, but now he turned her around to face him. It was infuriating how he controlled her like a puppet; with his chakra strings that were attached to her body.

"I lied." He told her, his voice soft as he advanced on her.

"So you came all the way to Konoha to tell me this?" Sakura hoped that the sarcasm in her voice could hide her fear. If she wasn't bound by his chakra strings, she would have been trembling.

"I told you my heart felt nothing. I told you I had feelings for no one. Not even my own grandmother. In that way, I lied." That smirk again. Sakura wished she could wipe it off his smug face.

"What are you trying to tell me?" She didn't like where this was leading. She wished she had stayed more alert when she just _knew_ something was going to happen.

"When you fought, you had such spirit, that strength and beauty combined that I have never seen in anyone else. I had to have you. I became obsessed. But I watched you." At this point, his smirk got wider. "I watched you, and _you_ were also obsessed with _me_. Don't deny it. Because I saw it."

"You disgust me." Sakura replied, scowling at him. "You'd better leave. You'd better leave or else I'll scream so loud the entire village will wake up. Could you imagine that? An entire village of ninjas after you? Even you couldn't stand against that."

"Oh but you won't." He cut her off with his dulcet voice. "I could silence you. Easily. But if you are a good little girl, I won't have to, will I? My _kohana_… My _little flower_…"

His voice sent chills up her spine, and her glare intensified. "Just leave me alone." She whispered. She struggled against the chakra bonds, but to no avail. It just seemed to add to Sasori's amusement.

"Not yet, _little one_." He chuckled softly. "I've waited for this." To Sakura's horror, he moved further towards her with a lascivious grin on his face.

And he undressed her.

Sakura had no idea what he wanted, but she noticed the way he openly admired her body. He left her in her underwear, half shivering from the cold, half trembling with rage.

"What are you doing?" She hissed as stepped back. She was still restrained, tightly, securely.

"You are my little doll. My beautiful little doll." He reached out and stroked her hair, as if she was his pet cat or dog.

And then he dressed her up, just like a little child playing with a doll. He dressed her in a beautiful green and blue, traditional-style kimono. She was afraid of what he would do next, but he sat her down, in her regalia fit for a queen, and talked to her. She couldn't believe the sort of things he confided in her. Such personal things.

Eventually, he lay down on her bed and moved her next to him- still controlling her like a puppet. He put his arms around her, and she shivered. His arms were lifeless and icy cold.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him again, turning her head to try and look him in the face.

"You are my doll. My one and only living puppet. I could talk all I want to my puppets, but they can't reply, can they? I'm just… lonely." He ran his fingers through her soft, silky hair. "Now this is our little secret, right? Or else…" He let the threat hang in the air, and Sakura grasped his meaning all too well.

"Fine." She growled, the last word spoken in the night. To her annoyance, his cold fingers on her scalp, running through her hair, were making her feel sleepy. In a matter of minutes, she fell asleep in the puppet-master's embrace.

The next morning she woke, alone in her bed, with her normal clothes on. All she had was a memory of a nightmarish night with her least favourite person on the earth, and a vivid recollection of his menacing threat.

"I couldn't kill him…"

**That's it. Like it? Please review!**

**s2- Envy**


	2. Chapter 2

**My Cherry Blossom, My Little Doll**

**Chapter 2**

**I'm really having fun writing this. I hope you have as much fun reading, as I did writing.**

**Thanks for all the reviews!**

"Please… No."

As the memories of the previous night came slowly back to Sakura, she frantically tried to recollect more. Had he… done anything to her? As nothing came to mind she relaxed somewhat. Even so, she was surprised she was still alive.

Nothing was as it seemed.

It was the kind of thing that made you want to lie in your room for the whole day, stay in your comfort zone and do nothing.

But she had a life, she had things she was expected to do, she had to go about everything normally. It just seemed as though her life had turned upside down.

She walked to her cupboard to pick out clothes to wear and opened the door.

"Shit…" She breathed as she saw the latest addition to her cupboard.

A bright spring-coloured kimono. The same one _he _had dressed her in the last night. She knew why it was there. Staring at her. Mocking her. A reminder. Up until now it could have been a nightmare. It could have been a manifestation of her stressed out thoughts.

But now it was real. Proven. True.

"Bastard." She vowed to burn the beautiful garment once she got back from work. She quickly grabbed her clothes of their hangers and slammed the cupboard door.

She checked that the window shutters were closed and locked before getting dressed, paranoia getting the best of her. And now her paranoia was justified.

It was so hard for her, just to walk to her work. Not that she lacked the courage, but she had to try so hard not to creep along in the shadows like a scared little mouse. She was defiant. If Sasori was watching, she wouldn't show her fear.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Tsunade-sama." Sakura handed the forms she had finished the previous night- it seemed like an age ago- to her master with a mostly feigned smile. "Anything for me to do today?" She hoped there was a lot. The dull and repetitive tasks she was set usually took her whole attention, took her mind off everything else.

"Could you file these mission reports for me?" The fifth Hokage said, pointing at the stack of papers without even looking up from what she was doing. She seemed flustered and worried.

"Is something wrong, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, reaching over to pick up the paperwork she had been landed with.

"Oh… Akatsuki is on the move again. A few of their members have been sighted near Konoha. But it's not really that big a problem. Security has been increased. I'm sorry but your team won't be assigned many missions until we can be sure it's safe for Naruto."

_And for me. _Sakura couldn't help but add to herself. "I understand." She nodded and moved off into her own office.

"'D-rank mission…'" She read on the first sheet on the pile. "'Guarding of minors.' Pfft. Babysitting." She wrote in the date and signed it, making a new pile on the table. Two more D-ranks. 'Pest' control, dog walking.

The reports brought back old memories. She missed those old days. The smaller the mission, the less chance there was of a casualty in the team, of some accident happening. Sakura couldn't help herself most of the time. She was just such an emotional person that it was hard for her when those sorts of things happened. That was her biggest weakness.

And everyone seemed to use it against her.

C-rank. An escort. Two more D-ranks, more menial tasks, completed by the new genins.

And then… an S-rank? One particular word on the page jumped out at her. _Akatsuki. _She read further. 'An ANBU level ninja sent on a reconnaissance mission in the Akatsuki base. Two reports have been received.'

She dated it, still scanning the passage. A top secret S-rank mission to the Akatsuki base. Perhaps they were hoping to capture or kill one of them. Or perhaps all of them.

A breeze blew in from the window and she hurriedly put the secret mission paper away. She felt like someone was watching her. No, she _knew _someone was watching her.

_Someone…_

She soon took a break for lunch, heading to somewhere she _knew _she'd have friends. Ichiraku. Not that she was really in the mood for ramen, she just needed to talk to someone.

"Sakura-chan!" She was greeted excitedly as she took a place next to her blonde-haired friend.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura said, perhaps not quite as enthusiastic as she could have been.

"Wh…whats wrong, Sakura-chan? Too much work?" He asked her, leaning towards her and, surprisingly, away from his ramen.

"Can I tell you something, Naruto?" Her voice was nothing but a whisper, almost blown away by the wind before it reached Naruto's ears. She knew _he_ was listening. She wished she could just yell out the things she wanted to scream at _him_. But if she did, the likelihood was she'd be deemed mental. It was infuriating.

"Sure. You can tell me anything." He smiled encouragingly. His smile that just seemed to make everyone happy, that seemed to make anyone like him.

"Last night…" She faltered, remembering Sasori's words to her.

_Our little secret. Or else._

Sakura knew herself well, and she suspected that Sasori did too. He knew her weakness. The people she was close to. That was the 'or else' as far as she could see.

"Uhh… Last night I couldn't sleep. That's why I'm a little weary today."

Naruto nodded, not noticing her long hesitation in the middle of the sentence.

With a sigh, Sakura ordered her ramen, and started on the steaming hot noodle dish almost straight away. It was so hard lying to her best friend in that way, but she reminded herself what may happen if she did tell him.

She suddenly wished she had eaten lunch somewhere by herself.

"D-rank. D-rank. C-rank. D-rank. B-rank." She muttered, sorting the crisp white pages into their separate piles on her somewhat crammed desk.

That open window was starting to irk her. It added an annoying little teasing edge to her paranoia.

She crossed the room to close the window and slammed it closed, almost breaking it off its aging metal hinges.

"At least that's done." Sakura surveyed the mountain of paperwork. She closed her eyes for a moment, and the endless C's, D's, B's and A's swum before her closed eyes.

"I'm… done for the day Tsunade-sama." She wearily finished putting the files away in their respective cabinets and bowed to her mentor before leaving the room.

She walked home without fear, her logical, calculating brain coming to the conclusion that _he_ wouldn't dare try anything in a street full of people.

_He? _Sakura thought. This illusive _he _that was in her thoughts for most of the day was really right about her.

She was becoming obsessed.

With _him_.

Sakura was ready for him this time. His little 'present' for her lay in ashes on her floor. She had had a hard time burning the lush and no-doubt expensive silk robe, but was able to do it in the end. It felt contaminated anyway.

A kunai was hidden under her pillow.

Three shuriken under her bed.

Another two kunai concealed on her bedside table.

The light was off, and the window was closed, locked and bolted, jammed shut. She knew it would be no challenge for that omnipotent _he_, but she tried.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard that telltale creak of the windowsill. He was already inside, a motionless figure silhouetted against the cold, blue-tinted light of the moon.

She reached down under her bed, fumbling for something in the dark.

One shuriken, two shuriken, three.

She aimed them at the left side of his chest, the only living part of him.

The place she had healed, and had so deeply regretted.

"Too slow, little doll." He sent his faintly glowing chakra strings at her once more, and she deflected two of them with the kunai from beside her bed. But the battle was already over. She may have diverted two strings, but the other four had found their targets perfectly. They attached to her shoulders and elbows, and he sent more to her wrists, knees and ankles, causing her to drop her weapons.

"I got you." He teased softly, drawing her closer as a fisherman would reel in a fish. "Did you miss me?" He asked, "Because I sure missed you."

"I didn't. You followed me around all day, you sick bastard." She felt obliged to point out.

"So you picked up on that?" Sasori mused quietly. "You must be more skilled than I thought." Without letting her reply, he started in his sick, 'ritual' of sorts, undressing her before dressing her in a strange costume. Traditional again, it was a plain black robe with an embroidered gold and red dragon running up its length, complete with a golden fan. The dragon's tail started down near her ankles, wound up to it's back legs at about mid thigh. The top half of it curved across her back, until its neck came under her arm and its head rested on her chest.

She admired the cloth, somewhat sarcastically, to Sasori.

"It is quite beautiful. It will be a shame to burn it." It was her turn to play the poised and unperturbed role this time.

"Women like to do pointless things, don't they?" His simple, soft answer, quoting himself, completely perturbed her.

"And… and _this_ has a point?"

He ignored her, manoeuvring her over to sit in a chair next to him.

"If this is _pointless_, then why were you waiting the whole day for it?" He asked her dulcetly.

"I wasn't… Not in that way…" She mumbled, blushing. Truthfully, her mind had been on the almost certain encounter for most of the day, but she wasn't _waiting _for it.

Sasori's answer was nothing but a sly grin, and a twitch of his fingers that pulled her up off the chair.

And he made her dance for him.

She appreciated how much of an artist he really was, because even though he wasn't _actually_ dancing, it was essentially him.

It was quite a beautiful dance that she found herself doing, involving much with the lacquered fan. She wished she could do that sort of thing by herself, as she felt so graceful doing it. It was as if her fearsome strength was belied by the femininity of the dance.

But it was nothing but a mockery of a dance. Controlled like a puppet, as she was, it was a mockery of a dance, she was a mockery of beauty, and Sasori's feelings were a mockery of love.

"I'd love to see you do that of your own free will…" He whispered to her once the dance had ended. "It would be so much more beautiful…"

"The only thing you'll ever see me do of my own free will, will be killing you." She hissed maliciously, once again tugging on the bonds, even though she knew it was pointless. Any lesser puppeteer she would have stood a chance against, but Sasori was _elite_.

"Not yet my little flower, my cherry blossom." He crooned softly.

Sakura grinded her teeth in anger and impatience as the previous night basically repeated itself. He talked to her, and occasionally she replied, coldly, indifferently, until eventually she found herself laying in his arms once more, on the verge of sleep.

Beside her head, his robe had parted slightly. She could see the compartment in his manufactured puppet chest that held his heart, the only living part of him.

Her brain began to work quickly, calculating and cold. There was still a kunai hidden under her pillow. If she could just reach it… She reached over slowly, trying not to wake Sasori. At least he seemed asleep.

Her hand grasped the cold, solid metal knife and she brought it up, ready to stab him. Faster than she could follow, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Not so fast, little one…" His grip was strong, and he twisted her wrist so that she dropped the weapon.

"I… hate you."

**Second chapter.**

**I've still got perhaps two to go. Maybe only one.**

**Hope this one lived up to your expectations. Thanks for reading!**

**s2- Envy**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Alright, sorry for the OOCness in this chapter, but I went a bit off. I just found Gigi's artwork. Its beautiful Thanks. **

**Anyway, heres chapter three.**

_The most attractive thing about boys to girls is attraction._

_Even if you don't like him much to start with, if he _really _likes you, eventually you will like him too._

_Girls just can't resist the feeling of being needed and wanted so much._

Ino had told Sakura this on many occasions, usually pertaining to Naruto. But Sakura never believed it was true. She _refused _to believe it was true. But as she sat on her bed, holding the latest silk creation in her hand, it made sense.

She tore apart and burned the black robe with the gold dragon, the night after that, the delicate light green and yellow hued kimono was also incinerated.

The next day, dead tired from her lack of sleep, she hardly managed to stay awake as she burned it. It was getting harder and harder to destroy them, and this particular one, one coloured like a pond in a garden, with magnificent dragonflies embroidered in bright colours, was the hardest yet. She managed to convince herself she was reluctant to burn it because of the beauty of the garment.

But in her heart she knew the reason.

But now, she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to ruin it again. The lush silk almost glowed in the early morning light, the magnificent purples and blues showing up vividly.

Most of it was a dark blue and purple colour, the colour of the sky at dusk. Silhouetted in a dark, pure, black was a tree. Not just any tree. A _sakura _tree.

She wanted to put it back on, and feel the silk against her skin. She sighed. Her feelings were in turmoil.

She wanted Sasori to come see her.

She didn't want Sasori to come.

She wanted to tell someone.

She didn't want to tell anyone.

Sakura put the cherry blossom kimono on a hanger and stuck it back in her wardrobe, where she had found it that morning. Work. It seemed so mundane, compared to surreal life she seemed to be living at night…

Anticipation, excitement, joy, fear, anger? None of these emotions seemed right to describe her feelings as she sat by the open window. The clock ticked tauntingly at her as the minutes disappeared, one by one.

She knew he had arrived, when she hadn't even seen or heard anything, but when her motion was arrested, when her feet were riveted to the floor. She smiled to herself as he came through the invitingly open window.

"There's no need for you to do that tonight." Sakura told him, staring at where his chakra strings glowed faintly blue in the moonlight.

"What do you mean, little flower?' His voice, soft, beguiling and littered with pet names as always, now held a note of confusion in it.

"I… I realized. And I waited." She said this as if it would explain everything. As she said it, she felt her face radiating with heat, as a faint red blush rose to her cheeks.

"You waited? For what?" Maybe he was playing along with her, she didn't know. Soon enough he'd be smirking anyway.

"I…" She took a deep breath. "I waited for this, for now. For… for you." She shuddered. "You… I hate you so much right now. Because what I feel isn't hate. And you knew that, you bastard." Her confusing and conflicting emotions gave way to confusing and conflicting words. His hold on her loosened slightly before he let go completely.

"This is what I feel, ." He said simply. And smirked, as though he couldn't help himself.

She returned it, though as a smile. Probably the first _real _smile she'd ever shown to the Akatsuki member in front of her.

It was perhaps more awkward, but less tense, less violating, as she _let_ herself be dressed up by her midnight visitor.

Every time he had come, he had told her everything, since he knew she wouldn't, or couldn't tell anyone. Sakura, in return, had told him perhaps only small things, but it was as if they knew each other so well.

A relationship, you could say, formed overnight.

This night though, as Sakura sat down next to him, it was her turn to talk. Sasori had poured out his soul to her, and she did the same, telling him about her feelings. Her feelings about Naruto, about Sasuke, about him. She found herself telling him things she had never told anyone before. But she didn't care. It was their secret. No one else would ever know.

Instead of falling asleep in a one sided embrace as they lay down on Sakura's bed, she turned to face him, and wrapped her arms around him as well and she fell asleep. Face to face, chest to chest.

She was holding, of her own free will, Sasori.

Sasori of the Red Sand.

Sasori of the Cold Hands and Warm Heart.

She was worried someone would find out. She was so different in the morning, than from the previous day. After a brief admiring glance at the new addition to her wardrobe, she picked her clothes out, and put them on, before heading out the door.

"Good news Sakura!" Tsunade greeted her as she entered the main administration building of Konoha. "We found out where the Akatsuki are. We're sending in a team of ANBU elite to deal with them. They're setting off tonight."

"That's great news." Sakura smiled and tried not to reveal her stilted enthusiasm. Already she had lost some of her original happiness, and the day was not yet started.

"Could you get a start on the Chuunin exam administration forms?" The piles of uncompleted paperwork were endless. Sakura wondered if Naruto knew what it really was like to be Hokage…

"Sure." She moved through the door to her own office, taking with her the evil papers. The only really good things about the Chuunin exams was when Temari came to visit. It was always nice meeting her old friend over such a cause. She picked up a pen and wearily got to work.

Sakura made Sasori wait for her that night, after she went out for dinner with her friends. Earlier that afternoon, going through her wardrobe, she almost picked out one of Sasori's outfits to wear, without thinking. Or maybe she was actually thinking about it.

But when she arrived home, all but exhausted from her days work, the night out and getting to sleep so late for the past six nights, he was waiting for her, still the same silent, still figure silhouetted against the open window.

"Please we… have to talk." Her first words were solemn and serious as she stepped into her room, sliding her coat off her shoulders. Her bare feet made no noise on the floor as she made her way over to the other side of the room.

"You have to leave. Not just here, but Konoha. Completely." From the way she was talking, she knew she sounded cold and indifferent. It was hard not to, saying what she had to say.

"What?" The comment turned from a confused question to an annoyed sneer. "Are you over me already? You've decided I'm not 'the one' or something?"

Sakura crossed the rest of the room in two strides, and slapped him angrily. He smirked, reminding her of what he had once said. Her hand smarted, but she went on. "Don't be stupid. They're going to kill you!"

His blank look told her that she wasn't making much sense. "Look." She sighed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this. Really. But… an ANBU team is leaving tonight, with the sole purpose of destroying Akatsuki. And… they'll kill you if you don't leave." She hoped he would get it, she hoped he wouldn't be stubborn, or too overconfident.

"Are you saying they _could_ kill me?" He asked, a smug grin on his face as he took Sakura's hands in his.

"Remember… remember that I almost killed you!" She reminded him. "And I'm only a chuunin. These are the elite, each picked for their own unique talents and jutsu. And with a team of them…"

"I'll be fine." He interrupted, stroking her hair calmly. "I promise."

Sakura didn't have a chance to reply as he started the undo the buttons on her shirt. She scowled but didn't stop him, instead relaxing in his cold grip.

"If they capture you, I'll kill you." She whispered to him affectionately.

"There's no fear of that, little one." He smiled self-assuredly. "I'm safe, as are you."

"Fine. But…" A coy grin appeared on her face and, half undressed, she put her arms around Sasori's neck.

She brought his face down to the level hers was at, and pressed her lips against his. Unlike the rest of him, his lips were warm and human, and after a moment of surprise from the puppet master, he started kissing her back. It was almost a fight for supremacy between the two dominative personalities, but after a minute they broke apart.

Sakura looked away as a deep red blush crept onto her face.

"Just in case… I never see you again."

Sakura woke easily the next morning, hardly tired. It seemed that rather than making her more tired, her previous late night had invigorated her. It was just like all the others, yet… more intense.

She arrived at her office earlier than usual, smiling at Tsunade as she made her way into the room.

She was surprised, however, to receive an even happier smile in return from the Fifth.

"We got one!" Tsunade said, the smile still present on her face. "An ANBU operative caught him skulking around the north of Konoha late last night."

Sakura's froze, her happiness blown away like a feeble leaf in the breeze.

"That missing-nin from Suna. Akasuna no Sasori."

**Oooh! What could possibly happen?**

**You'll have to wait to find my **_**evil **_**ending. And yes now I know that chapter four will be the last chapter. Please review it.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**s2- Envy**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**I hope you enjoy chapter 4. It's the last one. I hope it lives up to the rest of them. I always have a hard time ending fan fictions.**

"S-sasori?" Sakura asked, quivering, shocked by the sudden revelation. He must not have been careful enough, he had been caught, even when she warned him what would happen. Tsunade obviously mistook her shaking for fear.

"Yes, the puppet one from Suna. Its alright, he won't hurt you. We have him held securely. No one could escape from that, even one of the Akatsuki." She sighed. "I wish we could have caught one of the others though, we found that this Sasori doesn't feel pain, and is so unsusceptible to torture. We can't get anything out of him. So all that's left is to kill him." She sounded so nonchalant about something like that, torture, murder, all of that. "But the others fled the base we had discovered, they are no where to be found. But at least that means we can send you and Naruto out again."

So Sakura left soon after on her first mission in a while, heading with Naruto and Sai to the abandoned Akatsuki base.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what's been up this week? You've been acting kinda weird…" Naruto asked as they headed to their destination. A puzzled expression was clear on his face as they travelled.

"Nothing… Just, mood swings and all that stuff, you know? Its just been a kind of busy week and I haven't got much sleep." She made up something quickly.

"Mood swings?" Sai looked just as puzzled as Naruto. It was clear that neither of the two boys understood anything she was talking about. At least Kakashi looked like he did.

"Nevermind." Her mind was clearly elsewhere. Sasori was probably already dead and buried, and here she was making up excuses to save herself. Why couldn't they have captured him before she got attached to him? Why couldn't they have killed him before he even started coming to visit her? They left the forest that bordered Konoha, and into a wide plain. It wasn't far now.

They arrived at the entrance to the deserted base, quite cleverly. It was hidden behind a large waterfall, the cascading sheet of silver water completely obscuring the entrance. The large door behind was made entirely of the same rock that surrounded it, although the door was now pretty much destroyed.

Getting through the waterfall was easy, though annoying, as the icy cold water pelting down on her made her cold all through her body. Her wet clothes clung to her body as she made her way into the ex-hideout. She was alert, listening for any sound. There may have still been someone in there.

"I'll go this way." Sakura called out to her team, going through to a hallway cut into the dull grey-brown rock. She moved silently through all of the mostly empty rooms that branched off the narrow hallways. A few had papers in them; one had a desk and another a plain wooden chair.

The next one she found was well furnished, with a bed, a desk, a chair and a foreign-looking rug on the floor. There were a few things on the desk, as well as an old wooden trunk hidden in the shadows in one corner of the room.

She walked over to the desk slowly, and looked at the large pieces of paper that littered the wooden surface. She stifled a gasp with her hand as she stared at them.

Drawings, paintings, sketches.

All of them of her.

A close up of her head, a full body picture. There were pictures of her in all of the outfits Sasori had dressed her in, each one showing a different emotion on her face. Some of fear, of anger and of happiness. There was one for every night he had visited, except the previous one…

She rolled up the pictures carefully and put them in the bag she had brought with her, marvelling at the high quality of the artworks. They had to be done by Sasori. He was an artist after all.

She moved over to the wooden trunk. So it was Sasori's room she was in then? The large bed looked hardly slept in. No wonder… he was usually out for most of the night. She opened the trunk, unsure of what to expect.

More pictures of her. This time they were quite old. From the looks of what she was doing in the pictures, he had drawn them after their first confrontation ages ago, with Chiyo.

These she also stowed carefully in her bag. One of the biggest pictures had both of them in it, a beautiful watercolour of Sakura healing Sasori. Down the bottom of the page was a note scrawled as if he was angry or upset.

_I must have her…_

She left the room with a slight smile, shouldering her slightly heavier bag once again.

"What did you find?" Naruto asked as they met up again in the main antechamber.

"Nothing." Sakura hoped none of them would notice the extra bulk in her bag as the other two echoed her result. "Just some documents about transactions, they bought something, they sold something, they were chased away." She shrugged as if the whole thing bored her.

"But… lets go back already." She walked towards the entrance, where the sunlight glinting through the waterfall cast beautiful dancing lights on the stone floor.

"Wait… look I found something!" Naruto called out, and Sakura turned towards them. She was already standing at the entrance and by the time Kakashi had seen what it was, it was too late. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as a brilliant explosion lit up the antechamber.

The three boys were thrown backwards, and that was all Sakura saw before she was herself. She landed in the lake that the waterfall ran into, slightly bruised but mostly fine.

"Naruto…" She whispered, swimming back, through the waterfall to the entrance. Now she was well and truly wet. She climbed back in and went inside carefully. The ceiling could collapse at any moment… Naruto was completely unconscious, and the other two were barely conscious.

Ignoring the tears clouding her vision, she ran to Naruto first and healed all the visible wounds. There were a few scratches, but she suspected the worst damage would be internal. She picked him up, carrying the unconscious blonde boy outside, laying him on the edge of the pool. She did the same for Sai, then helped Kakashi, as he could barely stand.

"Bastards… Setting traps." She muttered to herself. She concentrated, and gathered all the chakra she could spare to her feet, and set off for Konoha as fast as she could.

"Will they be alright?" Tsunade had seen to the three personally after they had been brought back by the team Sakura fetched. All of them were in hospital, she hadn't been allowed to see them.

"They'll be fine. It'll just take a little while for them to recover. You were lucky to escape it." The Hokage noted. "You can go home now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"B-bye." She headed out the door, still slightly shaken from the days' horrifying events. She had almost forgotten about Sasori. "This is the worst day… in my life." She muttered to herself as she traversed the streets to get back to her house. She felt so lonely without the familiar sensation of being watched, it was strange.

When she got back, she took the drawings out of her bag and smoothed them out on her desk. She left them on the table, except for the one of her healing Sasori. Sakura stuck it up on the wall above her bed, where she could see it.

She got into her bed and closed her eyes. However, they wouldn't stay closed, and she found herself staring longingly at the open window. Her feeling of loneliness increased. Eventually, she didn't get to sleep until after midnight, because she waiting for someone who would never come.

"Come with me."

The next morning, Sakura was puzzled as Tsunade led her somewhere she had never been before. But she had a dreadful feeling she knew where she was being taken.

_I knew it. _It was all she could do to keep herself from running to Sasori as she saw him. He was bound by chakra ropes in a small room a few stories under the Hokage's office. It was kind of ironic, how he was bound in a similar way to how he bound her, how he controlled her.

He looked up and his eyes met hers. His eyes widened, he obviously didn't expect her to come. Sakura looked away quickly before either of them gave anything away.

"This is the one who caused you so much trouble. First, after all the trouble in Suna, and now with Naruto and Sai and Kakashi." Tsunade said, determination in her eyes. "I think you should… be the one to kill him."

Sakura gasped, staring at the floor with wide eyes. She… she couldn't. But she had to. "A-are you sure? You don't want to?"

"Think of it as _revenge_…" Tsunade was adamant.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she reached behind her and silently slid a kunai out of its holder on her waist. She nodded, somewhat shakily and looked back up at Sasori, concentrating on the spot on his chest that she had to plunge the cold knife deep into.

Tears stung her eyes and clouded her vision as she approached the man who, she realised, was the only person she would ever love in her life.

_So much for revenge…_

The tears that swam in her eyes spilled out over her cheeks, creating wet lines that ran down her face, until the tears dripped off the bottom of her chin.

"I'm so sorry. I can't… I can't betray my village." The words she spoke were so soft that only Sasori could hear. "I have to. I have to. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was all she could do to control the volume of her voice.

"You… you said you'd kill me if I was caught. I never thought you actually would." Sasori's voice was the hopeless whisper of a dead man. "But thank you. For everything."

He suddenly gasped as the knife was plunged through his chest, the only place where he could still feel pain. Sakura quickly wiped the tears off her face so no one would see them, hoping her eyes weren't that telltale bloodshot red.

"Do something with it." Tsunade's voice was cold as she spoke to the guard at the door of the cell, motioning to the body.

"Wait! I will. It's fine." Sakura called to her, picking Sasori up easily. He was still alive, barely…

"Thanks Sakura." Tsunade left her sight, perhaps glad that she didn't have to have anything to do with the whole affair anymore. The pink haired kunoichi practically sprinted out of the building, taking him behind it and into the shadows. Sasori was held over her shoulder, her strength making it easy for her to lift him. Acting on impulse, she ran through the dark alleys of the city, doing everything she could to not be seen. It was so hard when she knew Sasori could die at any time, she could be caught, she could be seen.

Eventually, she reached her house, stressing as she saw how busy the street in front of it was. There was no way she could get through there without rousing suspicion.

The window…

She had left it open.

So she entered her house by the same way Sasori always had. It seemed like a message of some sort.

She set him down on her bed, underneath the picture he had drawn of them together. Slowly, she slid the cold knife out of his chest, throwing the bloody object carelessly away on her cluttered floor. She gathered chakra to her hands and, almost mimicking the beautiful picture on the wall, healed him for the second time.

"Why did you have to do it?" Sakura sat on her bed with her legs crossed, facing Sasori who was still lying on the bed where Sakura had placed him.

"Why did you have to come and see me in the first place? It was… almost cruel. You know we can't be together. I've got commitments to Konoha, you've got commitments to Akatsuki. If we were caught we could both die. It's not possible, and it never will be."

Sasori pushed himself up to a sitting position, using his arms to prop himself up. "I had to." He argued, motioning to the picture still above his head. "I had to have you. Perhaps I had hoped things would just stay the same if it was all perfect. I'm sorry."

Sakura sighed, glancing down at her lap. She had put on the dusk-coloured robe for him, before he woke up. It was comforting in a strange way. "But you have to leave now. In the stories perhaps, forbidden love ends with the two joyous lovers eloping at midnight, leaving for a remote place to start a new life. Real life doesn't work that way. I'm not ready to give up my entire life, I'm not ready to die for love. Go back to Akatsuki, make up some story about how you escaped." She spoke to her lap, not being game enough to look him in the eye. A hot tear fell onto the lavish silk that covered her legs, followed by two more.

Sasori was silent.

"Before you leave… I want to show you something." She stood up off the bed and smiled at him through her tears. "I want to dance for you."

Sasori returned the smile at what she had told him.

"Th-this is the only one I know. I can't remember where I learnt this." She bent into the starting position carefully, thinking through the steps as she did them. It was nothing compared to the dance he had made her do earlier in the week, but at least it was something.

"Thank you." Sasori's voice sounded the same as ever, soft, beguiling, but there was such an underlying tone of sadness that it made Sakura's heart twist.

"G-goodbye." She relaxed as she ended the dance. Sasori stood up and silently moved over to Sakura, wrapping his arms around her, and leaning his chin on her shoulder.

"Next time I'm in Konoha…" His voice dropped further. "Wait for me. My cherry blossom. My little doll."

Faster than Sakura could see, he left through that window in her room, as he always did, causing the curtains to flutter with the sudden movement.

Her eyes grew wide as she was suddenly left alone in her room, her face wet with tears, her eyes red and staring hopelessly at the window.

"I will wait."

_The end_.

**I hope I am improving with the ending chapters. If you see anything bad in this one, constructive criticism is appreciated, though I love any reviews anyway. I'm so sad to be ending this story. It was really fun to write, probably even more fun than it was to read.**

**I feel inspired to write a sequel, so maybe someday I will. When I finally finish all my projects...**

**Thanks for reading, I hoped you enjoyed this fiction!**

**s2- Envy**


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